Influence of milk yield and take-off settings on milking parlour performance and udder health

The first aim of this study was to monitor parlour performance in high producing Israeli herds using the parameter proposed by Reid and Stewart (2007) for herds milked three times daily with 55 kg milk/stall/hour. Milk yield, somatic cell count (SCC) and the culling rate were monitored correspondingly. The second aim was to examine if by increasing manufacturers default take-off settings in Israel, there will be no detrimental effect on parlour performance and udder health (SCC). A survey was carried out in 2010 on 32 top producing herds totalling 9347 cows averaging 13,208 kg/cow/year and an SCC of 173,000 cells/ml. 44% of the herds monitored achieved the 55 kg milk/stall/hour recommended by Reid and Stewart. In 2008 a random survey of 32 farms with an average milk yield of 11,885 kg/cow/year, similar to the herd book average, only 16% of the herds surveyed attained the above mentioned target. When checked against a proposal of 50 kg milk/stall/hour by Reid (2008), 59% of the herds in 2010 and 32% of the herds in 2008 reached the recommended target. In the current survey two subgroups with different cluster take of settings were compared. Nineteen farms had takeoff settings of less than 600 gr/min, whereas 13 farms had settings above 600 gr/min, the latter were significantly higher than manufacturers default settings (350 - 480 gr/min). Only 7 of the 19 farms (37%) attained the proposed parlour performance whereas 7 of the 13 farms (54%) attained this goal. There was no significant difference in milk yield, SCC and culling rate between the two subgroups. Although the average SCC in the herds surveyed was lower than the national average, there was no evidence of negative effects on udder health (SCC) by increasing takeoff settings to a level of 600 gr/min or above.